LEADING dissident Bao Tong has been transferred to a hospital for treatment but friends and relatives are losing hope for an early release.
An informed source said the family of Bao, the principal secretary of ousted party chief Zhao Ziyang, had petitioned the Ministry of Public Security and the Justice Ministry for permission to see his doctors.
The source said although he was admitted to hospital in Beijing last month, it was not an indication that the senior member of the Communist Party's liberal faction would be granted ''parole for medical treatment''.
The news came despite hints by Chinese officials that in return for unconditional Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status from Washington, Beijing might grant ''medical bail'' to a number of dissidents in April and May.
A source close to the family said Bao, the former political secretary of the Politburo who is serving the second half of his seven-year jail term for alleged offences including ''leaking state secrets'', had recently undergone treatment for a serious thyroid gland complaint.
''Six tiny tumours have been detected in his thyroid glands by doctors in the downtown hospital to which he was transferred from Qincheng Prison,'' the source said.
''The doctors told Bao the tumours do not appear to be malignant but a further period of observation is warranted. No plans for surgical removal of the tumours have been made.'' The source said it was unlikely Bao would be moved back to Qincheng, which is in the outskirts of Beijing, in the near future.